The new "Pay-to-Park" signs that have popped up around Near Southeast in the past few days (many without the accompanying multispace kiosks where one would actually *pay* to park) were brought up last night at a meeting last night with Tommy Wells and residents of Capitol Hill Tower. Rick Rybeck of DDOT seemed surprised that the signs were up already, and equally surprised to hear some residents reporting that they're getting ticketed for "expired meters" when parking by the signs, even though there's not as yet any meters to pay at. Neha Bhatt of Tommy's office said that the meter prices for parking still have not been determined, and that discussions are still ongoing as to whether high-cost meter parking will be allowed on I, K, L, First, and Half between New Jersey and South Capitol during ballgames.

But the main issue of the evening was that CHT residents are not as of now eligible for Residential Parking Permit stickers for their cars, which will leave them with no free on-street parking when the streets around their building are metered. (The plan is that everyone will have to pay to park on commercial streets, such as New Jersey, but on streets zoned residential, RPP-stickered cars will be able to park free but non-RPP cars will have to pay.) At first Tommy said that his impression was that trying to get RPP stickers for residents of a multi-unit building was not going to happen, but Rybeck said that it should be doable. By the end of the evening, it did appear that Rybeck and Bhatt had a bit more of an understanding as to the Catch-22 that CHT parkers could find themselves caught in if the Performance Parking plan is rolled in as currently envisioned. (The building does have an underground parking garage, but there is a long-simmering battle about garage parking between some residents and the building's owner that I'm way too chicken to try to characterize here, and so many residents park on the surrounding streets.)

DVS says: (2/14/08 10:40 AM)The parking situation at Capital Hill Tower is absolutely absured. My wife and I both rent parking spaces in the building for just about $300 a month. And yet we are not guaranteed a space when we come home at night. The building owner was stupid enough to allow a parking garage for tenants who spend a butt-load of money on condos to be shared with a hotel and the public. And to top it all off, the building owner refuses to allot specific parking spaces to those residents who pay good money to park in the garage. Now we have residents who cant even park in their own building that theyve paid for because the garage just isnt big enough to share with the hotel and general public. Weve asked that spaces for residents be set aside so we can drive in, park and not be bothered by this building owners desire to make more money. But no, we spend our evenings searching for a spot, double-parking half the time, or even worse, give our keys to a sleeping attendant who will then leave our car idling for 20 minutes as he fiddles with some contraption to raise and lower vehicles to maximize space. As Ive told other local publications, if youre looking to buy or rent in the Ballpark District, avoid Capital Hill Tower. We will do everything we can to keep this owner from selling more condos until they start appreciating the residents who are currently living in their building.

Bob says: (2/15/08 10:36 AM)This person's remarks are totally absurd. The reality is that yes, the building's garage is crowded, but I have never once since I have been parking there (1.5 years) have I ever encountered a problem that wasn't easily remedied. I own the right to park in the garage, and park their on a daily basis, including late nights & weekends. The building is a great place to live. I respect my nieghbors, they respect me, we make full use of all of the building amenities and its close proximity to the metro. I frankly couldn't be happier about the building. Yes, parking seems to be an issue, but the co-op and management seem to be working out the issues.

James says: (2/15/08 7:26 PM)Agree with Bob; DVS is absurd. I was one of the first to buy in this building and DVS here is offering a mighty selfish point of view: "We will do everything we can to keep this owner from selling more condos until they start appreciating the residents who are currently living in their building." Really? You're planning to damage my equity potential (read: take money out of my pocket) because you can't handle city parking? I won't say that the building management or owner has done everything possible to resolve this issue but that kind of behavior is ridiculous. Get a license to be an adult and try again. There are clearly defined avenues in your co-op manual to address this issue with the owner. Get on it. And in the meantime, I'd hope you'll encourage new buyers and help build a better neighborhood here. Isn't that what co-ops are about in the first place?

alterations to an existing 688 SF vacant space to add mechanical, plumbing and electrical fixtures to accommodate a future tenant. Future tenant fit out will be provided under a separate permit. This permit is for the landlord work only. The existing space is recently constructed building shell that has not been occupied by a previous tenant.

Yards Parcel L-2. Afterhours permit for the purpose of dismantling the tower crane on private
property. Work to take place Friday, 2 / 8 / 19 and Saturday 2 / 9 / 19 between 7pm-10pm as well as Sunday, 2 / 10 / 19 between 10am-7pm.